Private 21156 William Stanton

BMD details:
Marriage: 20/02/1909 William STANTON to Mary A FITZGERALD at Sutton St Nicholas CE.

Family details:
Husband of Mary Ann Prescott (formerly Staton), of 50, Hills Moss Rd., Sutton, St. Helens, Lancs.

Census details:
1891 - 2 years old William is living at Hill's Moss Lane, Sutton, St Helens with parents Arthur (36), Alice (27) and three siblings: Isaac (7), Fanny (5), Charles (5 mths). 1901 - 12 years old William is living at 83 Regent Street, Earlestown with parents Arthur (43), Alice (37) and seven siblings: Isaac (18), Fanny (15), Charley (10), Rosa (8), [cas=1217]Arthur Stanton[/cas] (6), Lizzie (4), Joseph (3 Mths). 1911 - Sees 22 year old 'Miner Hewer' William living at 44 Hills Moss Road, Sutton, St Helens with wife Mary A (19) and son William H (1). He is living at the home of his In-Laws - The Fitzgerald family.

Notes:
[note=74]Two Stanton Brothers who died in The Great War[/note] [url=lmem.php?lmem=36]Remembered on the Clock Face Colliery War Memorial[/url]

Born in Burslem, Staffordshire around 1889, William married Mary Fitzgerald of St Helens on 20th February 1909 at Sutton Parish Church. They had a son, also William Henry (15th August 1909), and in the 1911 census they are shown to be living with Mary's parents at 44, Hill's Moss Road, St Helens. William is shown to be a Miner (labourer) Below Ground. Interestingly, William was also listed as living with his parents at the same time ! William and Mary's daughter Irene was born on 24th February 1912 and son Basil on 5th October 1913. William attested to the 11th Battalion of the South Lancs in early November 1914 Initial training took place on Salisbury Plain and in early 1915, the Battalion became a 'Pioneer' Battalion with the 30th Division. It had been decided that each of the New Army divisions should have an extra battalion included in its establishment to carry out road-making and other semi-technical work frequently called for in the field. The 11th Battalion was known as the 'St Helens Pioneers' in honour of the fact that the majority of the men came from St Helens. The Battalion finally left for France in November 1915, disembarking at Le Havre on the 7th. William was part of this draft. The Battalion strength was 30 officers and 1,007 other ranks. They served for the remainder of 1915 in the Somme Valley, carrying out work in the trenches. They suffered a few casualties, mainly to German snipers, but otherwise their first few weeks in the field proved uneventful. In the Spring and early Summer of 1916, the Battalion were heavily involved in preparations for the forthcoming Somme offensive. As a Pioneer Battalion, this was an exceptionally busy time. On 1st July, at the commencement of the Battle of the Somme, 30th Division were tasked with the capture of Montauban, with the initial assault taking place at 7.30 a.m. This was done by 2.45 p.m. and the Battalion were hard at work creating communications trenches forward through to the German front line. Three of the planned 4 trenches were completed but the fourth was abandoned due to extremely heavy German shelling, which inflicted heavy casualties. In addition, large numbers of men were hit by German machine gun fire as they went over the top in support of the assaulting infantry. This work continued over the next few days. William was wounded in action on 3rd July 1916, suffering Gun Shot Wounds (which also referred to Shrapnel wounds) to the Left arm and back. Sadly, he succumbed to his wounds later the same day. He was one of 42 men of the Battalion who were killed in July 1916. His widow received his memorial plaque on 30th March 1920, his 1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal on 7th March 1922. William's brother [cas=1217]Arthur Stanton[/cas] also died in the war. [pic]imgs/WW1_misc/21156_Stanton_W.jpg[/pic][caption]The Local Press - Courtesy Jeff Keenan[/caption] [pic]imgs/WW1_headstones/W_Stanton_SLR.jpg[/pic][caption]The headstone of Private William Stanton at Dive Copse British Cemetery, Sailly-Le-Sec (Photo courtesy of Ste M.)[/caption]